Ciao!

Lombardia

01.02.2005

After Florence, Kathira & I took a train north, to Lombardy. We we stayed w/ her friend, Marco, in the sleepy little village of Sannazzaro for three days (21-23 December). From there, we took day trips out to Milan & Pavia. By then, I was my sickest — my London flu finally taking its toll after a week of walking about in winter rains. But I was happy to get a chance to see different faces of Italy, beyond the touristy — I adored the tiny village of Sannazzaro (pop. 5,796) & could easily live in a college town like Pavia (pop. 71,074).

Sannazzaro

Arrived in Voghera, picked up for a drive to Marco's house in Sannazzaro dè Burgondi. Saw the electric plant he's building (Kathira met him while he was building an electric plant in Bolivia). A very friendly dinner w/ several of Marco's friends & some Lombard cuisine gave me a chance to practice my quickly expanding Italian vocabulary.

Slept in our first day. Then headed out to look around. Beyond a little piazza & church, there were a few cafés & shops, and a train station w/ frequent runs to Voghera (north) & Alessandria (south), from which you reached the rest of Italy.

To the supermarket for some groceries. I made lunch; Kathira prepared Bolivian empanadas for dinner. My spaghetti à l'arrabiata was spicier than Kathira's used to.

We debated the finer points of pasta cooking (I use oil in the water & cold water while draining). Then watched some insanely bizarre Italian television while preparing empanada dough. Dinner was accompanied by a pasta w/ genovese sauce (Marco's from Genoa), some nice Lombard wines, and a few more of our gracious host's friends.

Lombardy, btw, is cold. That morning, I'd taken my first opportunity to do laundry. It was a sunny day, so I put the clothes out on the line to dry (seems few Italian houses have clothes dryers, only washers). When I came back from strolling through the village, w/ the sun still out, my clothes were frozen solid. I put them on various radiators around the house to dry them.

Milano

In the morning, we headed back to Voghera to catch the train to Milan. A dramatic, shocking difference from Rome & Florence. While I often got the feeling that Rome & Florence rested happily in their Classical & Renaissance heritages, Milan's a vibrant, modern, European city.

We spent the remainder of the morning admiring Milan's Duomo, the second-largest church in Italy (after St. Peter's). It was under construction, alas, and we couldn't look inside. But we strolled through Galleria Vittorio Emanuel, a nineteenth-century Neo Classical covered shopping gallery (the world's first "mall", if you will). Absolutely impressive, w/ its high, glass-and-steel domed roof. Crowds of shoppers & tourists.

Lunch at Spizzico, an Italian fast food chain. OK, nothing special. Then a visit to Feltrinelli, the Italian Barnes & Noble. I was curiously looking around; Kathira was looking through their Spanish-language section for a book to send her dad.

After lunch, we wandered Milan, using the city metro. First to Chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie, where Da Vinci's "Last Super" (and other artwork) is found. Tours were available, but by appointment only. The only available slot was two hours after our train back to Sannazzaro. But we did get to enjoy the amazing Gothic red brick construction from outside.

Then to Castello Sforzesco. Originally Milan's ducal fortress, it's now a series of museums & entryway to the city's largest park. After a stroll through the interior court, we wandered past the ancient moat, through the park, to face the Napoleonic arch, erected by (a grateful) Milan in 1806 — when Napoleon created the brief "Italian Republic" (w/ him as king, of course), sparking the idea of a unified Italy (which became final in 1861).

We made our way back to the Piazza del Duomo, to discover a public theater performance, "La Citta in Vòlo". A woman dressed like Mary Poppins was singing "You Can Fly" (in Italian), while a girl, suspended on trapeze wires, danced across the sky. We stayed to watch, transfixed, as long as we could. But our train awaited.

Back in Sannazzaro, I decided to stay in, rather than go out w/ Kathira, Marco, and company, to nurse my flu (and now, slight fever) w/ the MediNite I purchased in a Milan pharmacy. Fell asleep watching X-Men 2 (in Italian).

Pavia

Feeling much better, we headed out to catch the morning train to Pavia (via Voghera), a little college city. The city's rather small, and we soon walked form the train station to the central Piazza della Vittoria, w/ its Broletto (medieval town hall), and the next door Piazza del Duomo, w/ its brick Santo Stefano de Pavia cathedral. From there, through the small downtown to the Ticino River and its Ponte Coverto.

Past a Vespa boutique, doing some window shopping on our way to the Università di Pavia, one of Italy's oldest universities (founded 1361). The small, medieval buildings were a sharp contrast to any concept of "university" I've ever seen up close. The small, main court held a collection of statues dedicated to Italian scientists (presumably from the university).

Then onwards to the mammoth Castello Visconteo, which we accidentally entered through the exit (avoiding paying the entry fee). Not quite as impressive as the Milan castle, but impressive nonetheless.

But we'd to catch a train back to Sannazzaro, to collect our bags, and head back to Rome for Christmas Eve. A last bite w/ Marco, before he drove us to Voghera, to begin a most memorable night train ride (a story in itself).

I first met the Italian people in Lombardy. Marco & friends made every effort to engage me in conversation, putting up w/ my bad Italian (which often turned to Spanish). And Marco, who barely knew us, yet opened up his home to us — even handed over his keys on his way to work, confident we'd be there when he came home. Amazing.

Posted by Miguel at 08:23 PM

Comments

Posted by: Rodolfo Martinez at January 2, 2005 11:10 PM

Posted by: stephanie at January 3, 2005 08:30 AM